You Heard It Here First, Video Testimonials Are The Best
I first came to online video from the broadcasting world. After I got my degree, I worked for all the major channels out of the UK including some international productions.
Then when I moved to Canada I shifted into content marketing. Now I combine my broadcast skills with marketing techniques to help my clients create great content and generate new leads.
There are about 12 different types of videos you can use to support your marketing endeavors. Out of all of these, my favorite, and what I think is the most successful is video testimonials.
They have the most impact and create the best results in my opinion. They are also fairly easy and affordable to produce.
From my personal experience, I love video testimonials because I am a big online shopper.
What guides most of my purchases are the reviews. I always check out the products that have at least 4 stars or above. Consumers tend to have a high degree of trust in online reviews and adding in video to the mix only makes it more credible.
Video testimonials are more powerful than reviews that only contain writing. They are more authentic, credible, and reliable. It’s easy to hide behind a keyboard and talk smack about a competitors product under the guise of a “review.”
When someone is willing to put a face to a name they’re sending a much stronger signal to the marketplace. And at the end of the day, it’s really not that much harder to shoot a video testimonial than it is to do a written one.
Never fake your video testimonials, you’ll be found out immediately! It’ll come out as inauthentic and scripted. I recommend you interview one of your customers and ask them to talk about their experience with your brand in a comfortable setting.
When you’re just getting started and don’t have any customers you can give out free samples to members of your target audience in exchange for a quick video testimonial. That’s an easy way to overcome that obstacle.
If you already have customers, approach your best customers who have lots of positive experiences logged with your product already. Video testimonials work a lot better with someone who’s geared towards extraversion than a super introvert.
Don’t script these sessions, just let them speak freely based on your prompts, but make sure your questions set them up to convey your USP to the market.
Additionally, if you can capture them in a moment of excitement about your brand then that’s going to have a huge influence on winning people over to your side.
Excitement is simply contagious. I always ask about my customer’s thoughts and feelings when giving testimonials.
This puts them in an emotional context and often relaxes them. Frame your questions to discuss what your product or service solves as a problem or pain point for that particular customer.
Being believable, authentic, and genuine is the name of the game. Follow this and you’ll be fine.
Action Steps
- Give away your product or service for free in exchange for a video testimonial or by approaching your best customers.
- Ask them to tell you what they love about your business, frame the question emotionally.
- Ask them questions that elicit from them your USP in the market.
- Capture them in a positive, excited emotional state during the interview.
- Edit out the question part of the interview so there aren’t breaks in the shot when you put it together.
Result You Will Achieve
More credible testimonials for your business by using video.
This article is based on an EHQ interview with the mentor.